As an inkjet printer of the related art, there has been known an inkjet printer which has an inkjet head for ejecting ink drops toward a print medium, a platen configured to have a groove formed at a position facing the inkjet head and support the print medium, a medium conveyer for conveying the print medium supported by the platen, and an air suction device for sucking air from the inside of the groove of the platen (see Patent Literature 1). The platen of this inkjet printer is for supporting a print medium disposed between the inkjet head and the groove.
The inkjet printer of the related art can perform printing on mesh-like print media (hereinafter, referred to as mesh media) such as fabrics. In the inkjet printer of the related art, a portion of ink drops ejected from the inkjet head toward a mesh medium adheres to a surface of the mesh medium, thereby forming a print image on the surface of the mesh medium. However, the other portion of the ink drops oozes out of the rear surface side of the mesh medium, that is, the opposite side of the mesh medium to the inkjet head side, through the mesh medium. In a case where the inkjet printer of the related art performs printing on a mesh medium, ink which is a portion of ink drops ejected from the inkjet head and oozes out of the mesh medium is collected in the groove of the platen. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the ink ejected from the inkjet head and oozing out of the mesh medium from staining the mesh medium. Also, in a case where the inkjet printer of the related art performs printing on a mesh medium, air is sucked from the inside of the groove of the platen by the air suction device, whereby ink drops ejected from the inkjet head are sucked toward the groove of the platen through the mesh medium. Therefore, it is possible to suppress wind pressure exerted by scanning of the inkjet head from causing the flight routes of ink drops to be curved or causing ink drops to be dispersed into a fine mist. Therefore, the inkjet printer of the related art can perform high-quality printing on mesh media.